THE VIEW FROM BERLIN: DENNY HEIDRICH GOES INTO THE BIG BROTHER HOUSE

Berlin cruiserweight Denny Heidrich joined the cast on Germany’s version of Big Brother this week after reportedly beating out 14,000 other people to win a spot.

The German boxer has said that he would donate part of the EUR 100,000 prize money should he be the surviving housemate at the end of the series 100-day run.

Quoted in Berliner Woche, Heidrich said, “If I win and I want to win, I would like to set up my own foundation. I would donate a part of it to the association ‘Kolibri', which cares for children with cancer and for which I also work voluntarily as an ambassador.”

Heidrich’s entry into the Big Brother house resembled that in the UK of Tommy Fury (brother of Tyson) taking part in that country’s Love Island reality show. Fury’s public profile received a massive boost from his appearance, leading to the televising of his fights. Tommy Fury is 3-0 (2).

Heidrich was honest with Berliner Woche about some of his intentions on going into the show. He said that it is a ‘springboard’ into a TV career. His entry into the Big Brother house comes at a fallow time for Heidrich’s career. In December, the thirty-two year old was stopped in the second round by journeyman Bojan Cestic in an undercard fight in Hamburg.

Heidrich’s appearance has risked being overshadowed by an anti-Semitism row over this season of Big Brother. A trailer for the series originally encouraged viewers to rate and value the participants by using yellow stars—unintentionally reminiscent of those imposed by the Nazis upon people considered Jewish.